Why We Need to Get Rid of LIFO
May 13, 2014Reactions to Ras Baraka’s Mayoral Victory in Newark
May 15, 2014New WHYY Post: What’s Next for Jersey Ed Reform after Newark and Trenton Losses?
Today’s column here:
Among various New Jersey elections yesterday, Newark and Trenton’s mayoral contests pivoted on concerns about the growing influence of education reform on the state’s traditional public education system.
In both cases, the “education reform” candidate lost. In Trenton, Jim Golden came in third; Eric Jackson and Paul Perez will have a run-off election on June 10. In Newark, Shavar Jeffries lost by nine points to Ras Baraka, foe of reform-minded Superintendent Cami Anderson and defender of Newark’s educational status quo.
It’s easy to conclude, then, that initiatives like rapid charter school expansion, tenure reform, and data-driven teacher evaluations are bygone fads, no more relevant to city politics than hula hoops.
Traditional public education stands strong, asserted Analilia Mejia, head of the union-funded super PAC New Jersey Working Families Alliance today on PolitickerNJ, bolstered by a growing populist movement against hedge fund managers, Wall Street executives, and “corporate America.”
A grim day indeed for those of the education reform ilk, unfairly and, in almost every case, inaccurately linked to profiteering shysters. Are these election outcomes, then, harbingers of demise? What happens next?
Read the rest here.
1 Comment
“It's easy to conclude, then, that initiatives like rapid charter school expansion, tenure reform, and data-driven teacher evaluations are bygone fads, no more relevant to city politics than hula hoops.”
School 'reform' has never had anything to do with city politics. It has always been imposed by outside forces who 'know better' what's good for often-disenfranchised urban populations.
It will be interesting to see what Newark's elected leader can do vis a vis the city's state-appointed schools' chief.